Portsmouth City Council is set to discuss the start date of its Government-mandated Clean Air Zone (CAZ) despite its preference for other options to improve air quality.

At next month’s cabinet meeting a recommendation will be made to councillors that the legal order for the Portsmouth CAZ is approved, meaning that charging of non-compliant vehicles will begin on 29 November 2021.

Non-compliant vehicles are buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles and heavy goods vehicles which do not meet euro 6 standards if diesel, or below euro 4 standards if petrol. Unlike other CAZs, vans and private cars will not be charged in Portsmouth, no matter how old the vehicle is.

Cllr Dave Ashmore, cabinet member for Community Safety & Environment, said: ‘We’ve been working hard to make sure that anyone that may be charged as part of the CAZ has been informed and supported, and in many cases, we’ve been able to offer support for owners to upgrade their non-compliant vehicles. We’ve also made sure that systems are all in place ahead of launch so that it goes as smoothly as possible.

‘Although a Clean Air Zone is not our preferred option for improving air quality in Portsmouth, we are required by central Government to launch the zone and I will make sure all the details we need to implement the CAZ are in place when we review the recommended launch date.’

Portsmouth City Council was issued with a ministerial directive in March 2020 to introduce a Class B charging CAZ in the south west of the city.